Tibetan community of Switzerland and Liechtenstein took out a peaceful march on Saturday to mark the 74th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights.
On Human Rights Day, the Tibetans chanted slogans like ‘Shame on China’, ‘No more sleeping’, ‘Wake UP’ and ‘United Nations,’ according to the Tibet Bureau Geneva post on its Facebook profile.
Notably, Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Earlier on Saturday, in Austria’s capital Vienna, the Tibetan community demonstrated in front of the Chinese embassy and raised their voices against alleged human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party.
The demonstration at Metternichgasse 4 in Vienna was led by Tibetan community president Nawang Lobsang Taglung.
This protest comes a day after the US announced sanctions on two Chinese officials for ‘serious human rights abuse’ in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), according to the US Department of Treasury.
The Chinese officials — Wu Yingjie (Wu) and Zhang Hongbo (Zhang) — have been named as those involved in alleged rights violations by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US Treasury Department.
The agency administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of US national security and foreign policy objectives. Notably, the Treasury has sanctioned over 40 individuals and entities across nine countries connected to alleged corruption and human rights abuse.
Meanwhile, Uyghur activists protested near the Chinese Consulate in the Sariyer district of Istanbul and raised concerns over alleged human rights violations in the Xinjiang region in China.
Around 120-130 persons, most of whom were women and children gathered near the Chinese Consulate at around 10:30 am on Friday and recited Quranic verses and also played National anthems of East Turkestan and Turkey.
During the protests, Abdul Selam Abdullah, a representative of Uyghur NGO East Turkestan Human Rights (ETHR), appealed to the International community to save the Uyghur community from extinction as he accused the Chinese authorities of killing Uyghurs on the pretext of Covid control measures.
Women activists Rusen Mahmud and Magfiret Ubul alleged forced marriages and sterilisation taking place under the Chinese regime and appealed for united action by humanitarian organisations and countries against atrocities in East Turkestan.